Film on gangs strives to reclaim Hub streets

Film on gangs strives to reclaim Hub streets
Boston Herald
By Laura Crimaldi
Friday, June 30, 2006 - Updated: 01:52 AM EST

    As the Hub braces for a bloody summer, former Boston and Cape Verdean gang members featured in a documentary film that tells the story of street violence in the city are hoping to take back the neighborhoods they once terrorized.

     “We started in Uphams Corner causing chaos and now a film is going to be debuted in Uphams Corner. It’s going to end where it started,” said Mario Rodrigues, 29, of Dorchester, an ex-gang member and Cape Verdean immigrant who is at the center of “Street Soldiers: Uniting to Rebuild Our Community One Block At a Time.”

    The documentary, which was filmed over two years in Dorchester and Roxbury, will premiere tonight at 7 at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester.

    The film is divided into six parts including: “Coming to America,” “Violence,” “The Crossroads” and “The Future,” said director John Oleuwole Adekoje, 36, a Nigerian immigrant and playwright who lives in Jamaica Plain.

    “In the film (Rodrigues) is very honest about his past and what he wants to see in the future,” said Adekoje. “He describes a youth that was kind of troubled, a youth where wrong decisions were made. As he grows older he finds that was not the way to go and not only did he decide that, he also became active in trying to stop other people and letting people know there’s another way.”

    The film memorializes about 20 homicide victims dating back to 1995, including Bobby Mendes, whose stabbing death 11 years ago sparked a bloody feud still rattling Boston’s Cape Verdean community today. But the documentary does not delve into details, said Adekoje. Mendes’ younger brother, Alex, was fatally shot last month.

    “That’s a wound that’s still not healed. I didn’t want to offend anyone or cause any more problems,” said Rodrigues, who works for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, brokering meetings between gang members.

    Rodrigues hopes the documentary will build support for the development of a community center for youths who want to end their involvement with gangs.

    “We are taking responsibility for our actions,” Rodrigues said.